It has long been recognized that the properties of polymers can be tailored to a high degree through variables such as polymer sequence, structure, additive and filler incorporation, composition, morphology, thermodynamic and kinetic processing control. It is similarly known that various sizes and shapes of fillers, and particulates (e.g. Teflon®, calcium carbonate, silica, carbon black etc.) can be incorporated into preformed polymers (prepolymers) or monomer mixtures to enhance physical and material properties of the resulting formulations. Prior art in thermoset polymers has also focused on property modifications through the formation of interpenetrating networks and crosslinks that is either partially or fully occur amongst the chains.
In the prior art, the desired effect has been to reduce the motion of the polymer chains and segments relative to each other. The combination of reduced chain motion combined with more rigid and the thermally stable components ultimately enhances physical properties such as dimensional stability, strength, and thermal stability. Unfortunately, all of the prior art suffers from process complexity and an inability to control the length scale in all three dimensions at the 1-50 nm level. The 1-50 nm length scale is important for polymeric materials since a typical polymer chain or crosslink has a 8 nm reptation diameter and a radius of gyration of 50 nm. This invention utilizes nanostructure chemicals to accomplish process simplification, control over cure chemistry and rate, and nanoscopic reinforcement of polymer chains down to the 1 nm level.
Furthermore, it has been calculated that as reinforcement sizes decrease below 50 nm, they will become more resistant to sedimentation and more effective at providing reinforcement to polymer systems. The full application of this theoretical knowledge, however, has been thwarted by the lack of a practical source of particulate reinforcement or reinforcements which are geometrically well defined, and monodisperse and with diameters below the 10 nm range and especially within the 1 nm to 5 nm range.
Prior art associated with thermoset polymers, interpenetrating networks, polymer morphology, and filler technology has not been able to adequately control polymer chain, coil and segmental motion and structure at the 1 nm-10 nm level. Furthermore, the mismatch of chemical potential (e.g., solubility, miscibility, etc.) between polymers and inorganic-based fillers and chemicals has traditionally resulted in a high level of heterogeneity in compounded polymers, which is akin to oil mixed with water. Therefore, there exists a need for appropriately sized chemical reinforcements, with controlled diameters (nanodimensions), distributions and with tailorable chemical functionality, to further refine the properties of polymers.
Recent developments in nanoscience have enabled the ability to cost effectively manufacture commercial quantities of materials that are best described as nanostructured chemicals due to their precise chemical formula, hybrid (inorganic-organic) chemical composition, large physical size relative to the size of traditional chemical molecules (0.3-0.5 nm), and small physical size relative to larger sized traditional fillers (>50 nm).